Best Database Design Tools in 2026
Updated
In short: MySQL is ranked #1 of 34 as of 5 October 2026, ahead of Hackolade Studio and DbSchema. The best-ranked option with a free plan is Hackolade Studio. The lowest first paid tier on this page is QuickDBD at $7.92/mo.
Database design tools can help you model structures, work with existing databases, and move designs toward implementation. Compared on supported databases and deployment, forward and reverse engineering, and SQL export, these options show which design workflows are covered. Team collaboration and version history can matter when designs are shared or revisited; free-plan availability and paid-from pricing add cost context. MySQL, Hackolade Studio, and DbSchema are among the included tools, alongside Schemity and pgModeler. Start with the database types and modeling tasks you need to support, then weigh export, collaboration, and history features against how your work is organized.
34 database design tools ranked on what their makers publish — plans and prices, free tiers, platforms and the facts on their own pages.
34ranked
12free plans on this page
$7.92/molowest paid tier
5 Oct 2026last checked
Input list Database Design Tools 25 channels on this page · 148 of 200 spec lines stated by the makers
Ch Tool Free planPaid fromReverse engineeringForward engineeringSQL exportSupported databasesTeam collaborationVersion history Spec sheet Score
01 MySQL Free planYesPaid fromnot statedReverse engineeringnot statedForward engineeringnot statedSQL exportnot statedSupported databasesnot statedTeam collaborationnot statedVersion historynot stated 1/8spec lines stated 7.8
02 Hackolade Studio Free planYesPaid fromnot statedReverse engineeringYesForward engineeringYesSQL exportYesSupported databasesGoogle BigQuery, Cassandra, Couchbase, Cosmos DB, Databricks, DocumentDB, DynamoDB, Elasticsearch, HBase, Hive, MariaDB, MarkLogic, MongoDB, MySQL, Neo4j, Oracle, PostgreSQL, Redshift, ScyllaDB, Snowflake, SQL Server, Synapse Analytics, Teradata, TinkerPop, YugabyteDBTeam collaborationYesVersion historyYes 7/8spec lines stated 7.7
03 DbSchema Free planYesPaid fromnot statedReverse engineeringYesForward engineeringYesSQL exportYesSupported databasesAccess, Amazon Athena, Amazon Timestream, Apache Drill, Apache Druid, Apache Ignite, Apache Pinot, Apache Solr, Aurora MySQL, Aurora PostgreSQL, Azure Synapse, Azure SQL, Cache, Cassandra, ClickHouse, Cockroach, Couchbase, CrateDB, CSV Files, CTreeAce, CUBRID, DaffodilDb, Databricks, Dataverse, Db2, DBF/FoxPro/xBase, Derby, DocumentDB, Dremio, DuckDB, DynamoDB, Elasticsearch, EnterpriseDB, Exasol, Fabric Lakehouse, FileMaker, Firebird, Firebolt, FrontBase, Google AlloyDBTeam collaborationYesVersion historyYes 7/8spec lines stated 7.6
04 Schemity Free planYesPaid fromnot statedReverse engineeringYesForward engineeringYesSQL exportYesSupported databasesMySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL, SQL Server, SQLite, SupabaseTeam collaborationnot statedVersion historyYes 6/8spec lines stated 7.6
05 pgModeler Free planYesPaid fromnot statedReverse engineeringYesForward engineeringYesSQL exportYesSupported databasesPostgreSQLTeam collaborationYesVersion historyYes 7/8spec lines stated 7.5
06 Database Workbench Free planYesPaid fromnot statedReverse engineeringYesForward engineeringYesSQL exportYesSupported databasesOracle, Firebird, SQL Server, InterBase, PostgreSQL, SQLite, MySQL, MariaDB, NexusDBTeam collaborationYesVersion historyYes 7/8spec lines stated 7.3
07 dbdiagram.io Free planYesPaid fromnot statedReverse engineeringYesForward engineeringYesSQL exportYesSupported databasesPostgreSQL, MySQL, MSSQL (SQL Server), Oracle, Snowflake, BigQueryTeam collaborationYesVersion historyYes 7/8spec lines stated 7.1
08 WorksCove ERD Free planYesPaid fromnot statedReverse engineeringYesForward engineeringYesSQL exportYesSupported databasesMySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL, Oracle, SQL ServerTeam collaborationYesVersion historyYes 7/8spec lines stated 7.1
09 Navicat Premium Free planYesPaid fromnot statedReverse engineeringYesForward engineeringYesSQL exportYesSupported databasesMySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, MariaDB, SQL Server, Oracle, SQLite, SnowflakeTeam collaborationYesVersion historynot stated 6/8spec lines stated 7.0
10 Redgate SQL Provision Free planNoPaid fromnot statedReverse engineeringYesForward engineeringYesSQL exportYesSupported databasesPostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, Oracle, SQL Server, SQLite, IBM Db2, HSQLDB, Amazon Redshift, Google BigQuery, SnowflakeTeam collaborationYesVersion historyYes 7/8spec lines stated 7.0
11 ChartDB Free planYesPaid from25/user/moReverse engineeringYesForward engineeringYesSQL exportYesSupported databasesPostgreSQL, MySQL, SQL Server, MariaDB, SQLite, Cloudflare D1, CockroachDB, ClickHouseTeam collaborationYesVersion historyYes 8/8spec lines stated 6.9
12 DB Designer Free planYesPaid fromnot statedReverse engineeringYesForward engineeringYesSQL exportYesSupported databasesMySQL, MS SQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, SQLiteTeam collaborationYesVersion historyYes 7/8spec lines stated 6.8
13 DrawSQL Free planYesPaid fromnot statedReverse engineeringYesForward engineeringYesSQL exportYesSupported databasesMySQL, PostgreSQL, SQL Server, MariaDBTeam collaborationYesVersion historyYes 7/8spec lines stated 6.8
14 drawDB Free planYesPaid fromnot statedReverse engineeringYesForward engineeringYesSQL exportYesSupported databasesMySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, MariaDB, SQL Server, Oracle, generic dialectTeam collaborationYesVersion historyYes 7/8spec lines stated 6.5
15 Navicat Data Modeler Free planYesPaid fromnot statedReverse engineeringYesForward engineeringYesSQL exportYesSupported databasesMySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, MariaDB, SQL Server, Oracle, SQLite, SnowflakeTeam collaborationYesVersion historynot stated 6/8spec lines stated 6.5
16 ERBuilder Data Modeler Free planYesPaid fromnot statedReverse engineeringYesForward engineeringYesSQL exportYesSupported databasesOracle, Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL, SQLite, Firebird, Microsoft Azure SQL Database, Azure Synapse Dedicated SQL Pool, Amazon Redshift, Amazon RDSTeam collaborationYesVersion historyYes 7/8spec lines stated 6.2
17 Oracle Database Free planYesPaid fromnot statedReverse engineeringnot statedForward engineeringnot statedSQL exportnot statedSupported databasesnot statedTeam collaborationnot statedVersion historynot stated 1/8spec lines stated 6.2
18 Moon Modeler Free planNoPaid fromnot statedReverse engineeringYesForward engineeringYesSQL exportYesSupported databasesMongoDB, Mongoose ODM, Azure Cosmos DB for MongoDB, Amazon DocumentDBTeam collaborationnot statedVersion historynot stated 5/8spec lines stated 6.1
19 QuickDBD Free planYesPaid fromnot statedReverse engineeringnot statedForward engineeringYesSQL exportYesSupported databasesMySQL/MariaDB, SQL Server, PostgreSQL, Oracle 12c+Team collaborationYesVersion historynot stated 5/8spec lines stated 6.1
20 DeZign for Databases Free planNoPaid fromnot statedReverse engineeringYesForward engineeringYesSQL exportYesSupported databasesdBase, DBISAM, Firebird, FoxPro, Google BigQuery, IBM DB2, InterBase, Informix, MS Access, Azure SQL, MS SQL Server, MySQL, Oracle, Paradox, Pervasive, PostgreSQL, Snowflake, SQLite, Sybase ASETeam collaborationYesVersion historyYes 7/8spec lines stated 5.9
21 ER/Studio Free planNoPaid fromnot statedReverse engineeringYesForward engineeringYesSQL exportYesSupported databasesOracle, SQL Server, PostgreSQL, Snowflake, DB2, MySQL, Teradata, Databricks, MongoDB, Azure Synapse AnalyticsTeam collaborationYesVersion historyYes 7/8spec lines stated 5.9
22 Oracle SQL Developer Free planYesPaid fromnot statedReverse engineeringnot statedForward engineeringnot statedSQL exportnot statedSupported databasesnot statedTeam collaborationnot statedVersion historynot stated 1/8spec lines stated 5.9
23 Skipper Free planNoPaid fromnot statedReverse engineeringYesForward engineeringYesSQL exportNoSupported databasesSQLite, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Microsoft SQL ServerTeam collaborationYesVersion historynot stated 6/8spec lines stated 5.9
24 SQL Power Architect Free planYesPaid fromnot statedReverse engineeringYesForward engineeringYesSQL exportYesSupported databasesOracle, SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MySQL, IBM DB2, HSQLDB, H2, DerbyTeam collaborationnot statedVersion historynot stated 5/8spec lines stated 5.9
25 DBModeler Free planYesPaid fromnot statedReverse engineeringYesForward engineeringYesSQL exportYesSupported databasesPostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, Oracle, SQL Server, SQLite, IBM Db2, Snowflake, BigQuery, Redshift, CockroachDB, YugabyteDB, TiDB, DuckDBTeam collaborationNoVersion historyYes 7/8spec lines stated 5.8
Compare all 25 in a table
| # | Tool | Score | Free plan | From | Free plan | Paid from | Reverse engineering | Forward engineering |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | MySQL | 7.8 | Free plan | — | Yes | — | — | — |
| 2 | Hackolade Studio | 7.7 | Free plan | $145.83/mo | Yes | — | Yes | Yes |
| 3 | DbSchema | 7.6 | Free plan | $9/mo | Yes | — | Yes | Yes |
| 4 | Schemity | 7.6 | Free plan | Free | Yes | — | Yes | Yes |
| 5 | pgModeler | 7.5 | Free plan | $59.90/mo | Yes | — | Yes | Yes |
| 6 | Database Workbench | 7.3 | Free plan | Free | Yes | — | Yes | Yes |
| 7 | dbdiagram.io | 7.1 | Free plan | $20/mo | Yes | — | Yes | Yes |
| 8 | WorksCove ERD | 7.1 | Free plan | $10/mo | Yes | — | Yes | Yes |
| 9 | Navicat Premium | 7.0 | No | — | Yes | — | Yes | Yes |
| 10 | Redgate SQL Provision | 7.0 | No | — | No | — | Yes | Yes |
| 11 | ChartDB | 6.9 | Free plan | $25/mo | Yes | 25 /user/mo | Yes | Yes |
| 12 | DB Designer | 6.8 | Free plan | $9/mo | Yes | — | Yes | Yes |
| 13 | DrawSQL | 6.8 | Free plan | $14.25/mo | Yes | — | Yes | Yes |
| 14 | drawDB | 6.5 | Free plan | Free | Yes | — | Yes | Yes |
| 15 | Navicat Data Modeler | 6.5 | No | — | Yes | — | Yes | Yes |
| 16 | ERBuilder Data Modeler | 6.2 | No | $11.58/mo | Yes | — | Yes | Yes |
| 17 | Oracle Database | 6.2 | No | — | Yes | — | — | — |
| 18 | Moon Modeler | 6.1 | No | — | No | — | Yes | Yes |
| 19 | QuickDBD | 6.1 | No | $7.92/mo | Yes | — | — | Yes |
| 20 | DeZign for Databases | 5.9 | No | €19/mo | No | — | Yes | Yes |
| 21 | ER/Studio | 5.9 | No | — | No | — | Yes | Yes |
| 22 | Oracle SQL Developer | 5.9 | No | — | Yes | — | — | — |
| 23 | Skipper | 5.9 | No | — | No | — | Yes | Yes |
| 24 | SQL Power Architect | 5.9 | No | — | Yes | — | Yes | Yes |
| 25 | DBModeler | 5.8 | No | — | Yes | — | Yes | Yes |
Is your tool on this list?
Numbered spots on this list can be sponsored, and a sponsored row is labelled as paid.
Questions about this list
Which database design tool is ranked first on Specifiction?
MySQL is ranked #1 of 34 with a score of 7.8. Hackolade Studio is second and DbSchema third.
How many of these have a free plan?
12 of the 25 on this page publish a free plan on their own pricing pages.
Which is the cheapest paid option?
On this page, QuickDBD has the lowest first paid tier we found: $7.92/mo.
How is this list ranked?
Ranked on what each maker publishes, the fullest spec sheet first: how deeply the product is documented, the platforms it runs on, a free tier or trial to test it, and its standing.
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